Household saving is defined as the difference between a household’s disposable income (wages, income of the self-employed and net property income) and its consumption (expenditures on goods and services.)

Features

Infrastructure spending Policymakers are pouring money into infrastructure projects in an attempt to head off economic disaster. Cohen: When stability returns, infrastructure will be attractive. All aspects of infrastructure will be on the rise in 2009, as the United ...

Equity derivatives As equity derivatives have taken a pounding in recent months, many of the smaller players have abandoned the market. The industry’s giants are still offering tailored products for their clients, though. In the months following the ...

Banking crisis / central & eastern europe Central and Eastern Europe has suffered more than most regions as a result of the credit crunch. Some are concerned that economic turmoil may lead to social unrest. Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia ...

Regional report Calls to renegotiate Nafta are growing louder, and as the three member countries’ economic travails deepen, the arguments for a revision are gaining ground. The economic crisis that began in the United States has had a dramatic ...

Award Winners

Treasury & cash management Corporations are focusing ever more intensely on their cash and liquidity management operations. In these credit-challenged times, selecting the best treasury and cash management provider is more important than ever. With the continuing turmoil ...

Emerging Markets Roundup

Zimbabwe has abandoned its "worthless" currency in favor of other currencies such as the US dollar. After years of trying to defend its near-worthless currency, the Zimbabwean government has abandoned foreign exchange and price controls. Zimbabweans will now be allowed ...

Brazilian oil giant Petrobras will use debt issuance to finance new offshore exploration. The Petrobras state-controlled oil company sold $1.5 billion of 10-year bonds on international markets in February. The deal, which carries a 7.875% coupon, was managed by HSBC, ...

Company To Watch: Indofood Sukses Makmur/indonesia Low commodity prices are hurting Indonesia’s export earnings, but they could benefit Indofood Sukses Makmur, one of the world’s largest makers of instant noodles, commonly known as ramen noodles. With about 238 million people, ...

Open for business: "Off-limits" investment sectors opened up. The Indian government revised its foreign investment policy guidelines in mid-February, with a changed methodology for computing foreign equity holdings in Indian companies. According to the new guidelines, any equity held by ...

DR NEWS Pune, India-based Suzlon Energy, the world’s fifth-largest maker of wind turbines, said it received approval from Indian regulatory authorities to raise up to $370 million through the issuance of depositary receipts overseas. The company has not yet decided ...

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia shook up his cabinet in February, appointing a new central bank governor, as well as new education, justice, information and health ministers and naming a woman as a ...

Devaluation of the ruble is over, says Kudrin, Russia's finance minister. The Kremlin rolled out a revised version of its economic crisis plan, extending additional credits to the beleaguered banking sector possibly at the expense of direct loans to ...

NEWS Investors are able to buy shares in fundamentally strong companies in Latin America at record low price/earnings ratios after a sell-off in recent months triggered by falling commodity prices, according to Auerbach Grayson, a New York-based brokerage firm that ...

Country Report

SURVIVAL INSTINCT CYPRUS Cyprus’ leaders are tackling head on the challenge of maintaining economic growth during the current global downturn. Nicosia, Cyprus' capital, is gripping itself for an economic slowdown. Cyprus has experienced more than its fair share of ...

CYPRUS Cyprus’ leaders are tackling head on the challenge of maintaining economic growth during the current global downturn. Nicosia, Cyprus' capital, is gripping itself for an economic slowdown. Cyprus has experienced more than its fair share of ups ...

Milestones

BRAZIL Brazil’s central bank: Attempting to boost banks’ trade finance lines With commodity prices plummeting from last year’s highs, Latin American governments are seeking ways to support their trade sectors as part of their economic stimulus plans. Strong ...

EUROPE Cash is costly for Hammerson, developer of this UK cineplex With headlines dominated by bank bailouts totaling billions of dollars, it’s easy to get blasé about the scale of the challenge facing the global economy. Nevertheless, a ...

Global Equity /drs Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication, one of three new fixed-line operators in Saudi Arabia, broke the long drought in initial public offerings in the kingdom, with an IPO for 30% of its capital. The $80 million public offering, completed ...

Corporate Debt Corporate debt markets in the United States have begun to function more normally, and the money supply is expanding rapidly, showing that the Federal Reserve’s credit-easing policies may be working, analysts say. The Barclays Capital ...

Mergers & Acquisitions The credit crunch has not put an end to major acquisitions by well-run companies that have a compelling strategic plan and a pile of cash. New York-based Pfizer, the world’s biggest drug maker, agreed ...

Newsmakers

UNITED STATES Hardhitting team appointed to curb US carbon emissions With a new line-up of officials steering Washington’s environmental and energy policies for the next four years and global talks under way to iron out a successor pact ...

LATIN AMERICA Sleepless in Madrid: Santander chairman Emilio Botin Spanish banking giant Santander is struggling to contain the fallout from the more than $3 billion loss its clients sustained through the bank’s investments in funds linked to disgraced ...